Store Design Case Study

1.2.2 Store design/Layout

Store design can be described as “... the interior design with special attraction of commercial premises of retail store where goods are sold to the public. Retail design aims to make these commercial spaces more appealing and inviting to buyers…” (Burns, 2012). “The chief function of store design is to aid in the effecting of the retailer’s strategy. It is essential that the design be consistent as well as strengthen the retailer’s merchandise strategy by meeting the needs of their target market and creating a sustainable competitive advantage.” (Levy et al., 2012:468) “The design of the retail store will usually focus on three main aspects, namely layout, signage and graphics, and a feature area in order to create

Buyers’ perceive the image of a store, the moment they enter an apparel store which casts an impression of the store in their mind. Feature area is another feature of store design. In a store to catch the eye of the buyer some innovative and creative features are displayed. Feature areas include window displays, entrances freestanding displays, promotional aisles or areas, walls, dressing rooms, point of- purchase counters and props. In a sector where the design process seldom starts from an original concept, and designers use existing information (on design, colors, fabrics) in new ways, and inspiration from imports and fashion shows is rampant. Gaining and sustaining a strategic competitive advantage in retailing requires knowledge of the store attributes that buyers value and use to discriminate between stores and why the attributes are important. Hence, there is a rising need to evaluate the major drivers of shopping behavior in Indian context. It estimates that by 2015, the overall Indian Apparel industry would be worth Rs 2.88 lakh crores and the organized market share will be 25 percentage of

It attempts to understand the buyer’s decision making regarding liking and disliking of a product purchase. It studies the distinct characteristics of individual buyers such as demographics, psychographics and behavioral variables in an effort to understand people’s wants and needs. It also tries to assess influences on the buyers from groups such as family, friends, reference groups and society in general. The research on shopper behavior goes back to 1969 when Dodge and Summer found out that Store choice has been found dependent on socio-economic background of buyers, their personality and past purchase experience. Later Kotler (1973), Cort and Dominguez (1977), Mattson (1982), Meyer and Eagle (1982), Malhotra (1983), Lumpkin et al. (1985), Zeithaml (1985), Fotheringham( 1988), Sparks (1995), Davies (1995) contributed a lot towards the research on shopper buying behavior. But the research on shopper behavior goes back to 1969 when Dodge and Summer found out that Store choice has been found dependent on socio-economic background of buyers, their personality and past purchase experience. Later Kotler (1973), Cort and Dominguez (1977), Mattson (1982), Meyer and Eagle (1982), Malhotra (1983), Lumpkin et al. (1985), Zeithaml (1985), Fotheringham(1988), Sparks (1995), Davies (1995) contributed a lot towards the research on shopper buying behavior. But it is the acts of